Novartis is a pharmaceautical company behind the anti-cancer drug Glivec. India has stopped Novartis' application for a patent for this drug, allowing other pharmaceuticals in India to provide generic versions of it. However, Novartis is currently challenging this.

Is somebody able to help me write a response to Novartis? In particular, I'm trying to tie in patents with the European software patents directive that was the hot topic about a year ago. In software patents, I understand that it was the process, and not necessarily the implementation that patent supporters wanted patentable. Are arguments for open-source (unpatented) software equally (or at all) applicable to medicines, and should they be? The crux of this in Novartis' response is "The best way to encourage innovation is via respect for intellectual property".